Load One - Blog #marketing

The Year in Review: Top 5 Posts of 2020

Wed, 30 Dec 2020 09:00:00 +0800

#5 How to Attract Customers Using Online Channels

Whether you're an old hand at online businesses or transitioning from a brick-and-mortar business, attracting customers through online channels has never been more important that now. We hope our post has given you some ideas on how you can continue to do business online regardless of the quarantines.

#4 Raising Customer Loyalty with SMS and Chat

With online consumption and online shopping at an all-time high, it's even easier to stay connected to your market and build a relationship with them. SMS and Chat is a great way to stay connected through these months of social distancing.

#3 Top 5 Ways to Acquire and Retain Customers on Your E-commerce Store

E-commerce continues to be an important piece in today's business climate, and it shows, with two out of five places in our top 5 list. Customer loyalty and retention is important, especially now when customers are spoilt for choice.

#2 4 Ways to Adapt to the Lockdown Reality By Going Digital

Traditional business owners, we hear you. Transitioning your pre-COVOD-19 business to the digital world is an important undertaking, and one that so often feels like too much of a challenge. We hope this short guide can help you manage these new waters of technology.

And our top #1 post for 2020 is...

#1 5 Reasons To Take Remote Offices Seriously Now

Our top post is about remote offices, naturally. One of the biggest shifts in today's world is the move to remote workplaces and offices. Health and safety reasons called for the change, and many workplaces have had to adjust quickly. Remote work does bring many positive benefits other than health concerns, which we focus on in this post.

Conclusion

As we move into the new year, let's continue to work smartly and diligently in this new normal. Whether it's through learning more about the digital landscape of business, or continuing to make our remote workplaces a better place for our teams, let's move forward together.

Did our top 5 posts surprise you? What is your top topic for 2020?

10 Tips for Compelling SMS Campaigns

Wed, 05 Aug 2020 09:00:00 +0800

Tip #1 - Get Permission From Your Subscribers

Just like any email mailing list, you need to get explicit permission from your recipients before sending them marketing text messages. This is the most important tip!

There are many ways to entice people onto your subscriber list--perhaps offer them special offers, product updates, and other perks when they opt into the list.

Remember that if they gave you their email address only as part of their online order, that isn’t an invitation to start messaging them about your new products. So take the opportunity to invite them to opt in while they’re checking out their online cart or in your order communications.

Tip #2 - Provide Great Value

It goes without saying that the best way you make sure your recipients are happy with your SMS program is to provide value to them. Remember that the high open and response rates enjoyed by SMS campaigns is due to how intimate SMS messaging is for most people. Subscribers have less patience for unwanted, useless messaging in their SMS inbox than in their email inbox.

This means that while you have higher chances of getting noticed with SMS, make sure that your message is something that they would really want to know about, and act upon. Your subscribers need to feel like a VIP.

Tip #3 - Tell Subscribers What to Expect

Managing expectations is important. You don’t need to have a long explanation of what your program is about. But it’s important to be clear what subscribers can get from joining your list. This minimizes disgruntled recipients and can be a compelling reason why subscribers might join.

Make sure to reiterate your program in the auto-response that subscribers receive after they join.

Tip #4 - Don’t Nag Your Subscribers

Nobody wants to get too many messages per month, or about the same campaign. Don’t annoy your subscribers, or you’ll see more people removing themselves from your list in short order.

It’s also good practice to tell your subscribers up front how many times they can expect to receive messages from you. Anywhere from 2-6 messages per month is a good number.

Tip #5 - Time Your Messages Right

Aside from regulations that limit promotional messaging to normal hours, your recipients are more likely to take action on your message during the daytime.

A message they receive while they’re getting ready to sleep will not likely inspire them to take your offer, and may even annoy them if they wake up to your notification. In addition, sending messages after office hours can also be counterproductive for your business.

Tip #6 - Be Professional and Don’t Use Shorthand

While many people use shorthand forms when messaging their friends and family, using the same in your promotional messages may come across as sloppy and unprofessional. Sending out your promotion copy in full will rarely cause readers to think negatively of your brand, while shorthand may be detrimental.

Additionally, the shorthand forms you know may be different for your target audience. Minimize the chance of misunderstanding by sticking to normal word forms.

Tip #7 - Respond in Real Time

One of the best aspects of SMS channels is the ability to develop customer relationships through conversational marketing. By giving them an opportunity to respond to you and start a conversation, you’re building long-term relationships and loyalty.

It’s important to keep these customers engaged. While manually responding to subscribers may not be ideal, usage of autoresponders can help in many scenarios, from instantly giving them access to purchase products in your catalog to responding to their feedback appropriately.

Tip #8 - Track and Measure Your Campaigns

As with many marketing campaigns, it’s important to measure your SMS campaigns effectiveness in order to maximize current and future efforts. Don’t just send your messages blind and hope that something comes back.

Check your provider if they have tracking tools available, but you can also use third party tools like Google Analytics to track your SMS campaigns’ effectiveness. These need to be embedded in the message you send out, so don’t forget to include it as you hit send.

Tip #9 - Personalize Where You Can

While there’s only so many characters you can include in an SMS, it’s important to show your business’ personality and care for your customer through the copy that you use. It’s easy to send an impersonal message through, but it has less chances of grabbing your recipient’s attention.

Where possible, try to personalize your messaging, whether it’s by adding their name or tailoring an offer for their interests. You’re more likely to catch their attention and they’ll feel closer to your brand if you make them feel like a VIP.

Tip #10 - Stay Transparent and Compliant

Lastly, using SMS for marketing purposes is more than just making sure they’ve explicitly opted into your program. There are many important laws regulating marketing on this channel, so make sure you’re following them.

These are things like:

Informing recipients about extra message/data rates that they may incur when they respond to your campaign messages.
Letting subscribers know how to remove themselves from your program.
Sending promotional messages only within allowed times of the day.

Keep up to date with the current regulations, and make sure your bases are covered.

Conclusion

SMS is a great channel that can fully round out your existing marketing efforts. Don’t ignore newer channels such as social media ads, messenger and chat apps, and the like, but don’t dismiss this veteran marketing channel. A solid marketing plan must harness all available channels to deliver a powerful message.

If you follow all the tips outlined below, your program and campaign has a better chance of delighting your customers.

Get permission from your subscribers.
Provide great value.
Tell subscribers what to expect.
Don’t nag your subscribers.
Time your messages right.
Be professional and don’t use shorthand.
Respond in real time.
Track and measure your campaigns.
Personalize where you can.
Stay transparent and compliant.

A happy subscriber list can help you build strong customer relationships and encourage brand loyalty to your subscribers. Taking care of them and making sure you bring value through your SMS program can give you great long-term results.

3 Reasons To Use SMS Marketing in 2020

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 09:50:48 +0800

With the first text message sent in 1992 and launched widely in the Philippines in 1998, Short Message Sevice (SMS) almost feels like ancient technology. It's normal to think twice about how relevant SMS is over 20 years later. Many millenials don't even give friends and contacts their phone numbers, opting for digital messaging on social media channels instead for communication.

However, it's possibly because of this that SMS remains a strong channel to reach customers. While many people have mobile phones (there are 159% mobile connections compared to the local population--many Filipinos own more than one mobile phone), not everyone will have data--locally, only 86% have data connectivity.

Source: https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2020-philippines

SMS marketing has previously been seen negatively due to the harmful practices of untargeted, invasive SMS blasts. However, a careful and thoughtful approach to using SMS to approach your customers will be beneficial to any business. Combining SMS with other marketing tools like email or digital messaging can provide a reliable, scalable communication experience to your customers.

Not yet convinced? Here are 3 reasons to start using SMS marketing in 2020.

Reason #1 - SMS has High Open Rates

Email, one of the most popular communication tools in marketing, only has a 15-20% open rate, while text messages are opened anywhere from 82.1% to 98%. You would sooner find people with zero unread text messages than zero unread email, and for good reason.

Text messages are shorter and more straightforward, easy to skim and take action on if needed. People give their mobile numbers only to select individuals, making it a more intimate medium.

Of course, this intimacy also means recipients are more sensitive to breaches of trust when it comes to SMS. They are more likely to be irritated with unwanted and unsolicited messaging.

Reason #2 - Fast Delivery

An SMS call to action is quick to write and finish--after all, you only have to worry about the words and the message length. There are no designs to sign off on, or additional media you need to provide.

But SMS is also fast when it comes to results--90% of text messages are read within 3 minutes of receipt. Potentially 90% of your recipients have seen your offer and taken action on it. That’s an unprecedented number for any marketing tool.

Reason #3 - Encourages Two-Way Interactions

SMS is intimate and designed for two-way interactions. This is perfect for when your business needs quick confirmation, like for appointments and reservations. Your recipients are already in the frame of mine to address a text message, and you can leverage that with thoughtful updates.

Businesses can use this in more ways than providing delivery updates and reservation confirmations. Perhaps offering mobile exclusives can help build a loyal audience (as long as recipients have opted into your offerings). Building more intimate relationships will help you retain and grow your customer base.

Don’t Ignore SMS in 2020

SMS is the often-overlooked tool in any marketer’s arsenal. Don’t let its plain looks and mature years fool you: it is a strong contender for any business looking to maximize its marketing tactics.

Its high open rates, fast delivery, and great engagement is unprecedented for marketing channels. Discerning businesses who harness SMS marketing well will see long-term benefits to customer loyalty.

How to Attract Customers Using Online Channels

Wed, 15 Jul 2020 09:00:00 +0800

Maybe you’re selling products online or through a brick-and-mortar store. Maybe you’re providing a service. You might even be targeting other businesses instead of regular consumers. But whatever your business is, being able to get new customers online is becoming a key aspect of growing your business.

If you’ve got a website and a Facebook Page, that’s a great first step. But it’s not enough just to put up a website or Facebook Page. Think of it like renting a space for your office or store. If you’re not using it, you’re not getting your money’s worth. Nobody’s going to come by and buy something if you don’t make your page work.

Here are five things you can do to attract more customers online:

#1 Make Yourself Easy to Find Using SEO

Search engine optimization can be difficult to understand, it's true. It can be challenging to see the results.

But 89% of consumers use search engines like Google not only to find what they want to buy, but to find out about the things they are planning to buy. They look at reviews, they look for other people using the product, they look for possible alternatives. Three out of four people who find store information online would likely visit that store in the few days after their search.

Source: https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/

Good SEO drives not only online purchases, but also offline traffic. This means that it's worth your while to have an XML sitemap available, a fast-loading website, and appropriate page information (such as page descriptions and keywords).

But in addition to figuring out what your potential customers search for, it's important to understand their intent. This can also tell you what keywords to target for. "Chicken wings" as a keyword is great, but what do they want to know if they land on your page? How about "chicken wings recipe" or "chicken wings delivery"? The latter two can be different kinds of customers and businesses!

If they land on your page and you are able to show them exactly what they are looking for, you're one step closer to scoring a new customer.

#2 Add Value to the Community Through Content Marketing

Content can be tiresome to make. The constant cycle of figuring out what to publish, the actual publishing process, and maintaining your content, can be daunting. And you can’t make customers pay for it. So why would you do it for your business?

Adding valuable content has two benefits.

The first benefit is for search engines. Search engines like seeing more content, so the more you have that people click through to your site, the more “search engine cred” your business will have.

If they see that more people are going to Business A than Business B (and people will go to pages that seem to have more useful content), then the search engine will start to prioritize Business A’s website over Business B’s. More content means more people, and more credibility.

The second benefit is for your potential customers. If people who are passing by your website or Facebook Page see that you have a lot of content that is relevant to them, they will believe your business over another business that only has contact information on their website. They will have a better feel for your business, and will gravitate towards buying from yours over a competitor’s.

Remember, content marketing is not just blogs or posts. It’s also videos, guides, downloads, podcasts, and more! You can be creative with your strategy and match your content to what your audience likes consuming.

Source: https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics

#3 Show Social Proof Through Social Media

Social proof is a powerful tool in closing a sale. Social proof are testimonials, user reviews, user comments and interactions that tell your potential customers you’re the expert in your niche. Many users use this credibility to decide whether to buy from a business or not.

While content marketing shows people you know what you’re talking about, social proof gives them the assurance that other people think the same and that your business is a safe bet. That’s why it’s important to follow through with social proof.

Source: https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/

If you’ve got a Facebook Page, engage people through it. Start conversations, encourage your advocates through it. You can focus on celebrities and influencers for your testimonials or gather reviews through word-of-mouth and actual buyers. Which way you go depends on your target market. What’s important is keeping up an active, on-brand social media persona to encourage people to interact with your brand.

#4 Reach Out to Potential Customers through Online Advertising

This is a great time to get started in online advertising. More and more people are online everyday, and your ad in social media platforms and search engines will get the most mileage out of this time.

Internet and social media penetration. Source: https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2020-philippines

But make sure you clearly define your goals for your online ad. Are you looking for brand awareness, or actual purchases? Are you trying to gather more social proof for your brand, or to get leads? This will help you focus your marketing copy and visuals to be more effective.

Using this information across a series of ads will also help you pinpoint which ad resonates better with your market. Don’t be afraid to experiment, but beware of following marketing fads. Your ads should be in line with your brand and values, so that you attract the right kind of customers.

#5 Grow Your Network with a Partnership and Sponsorship Outreach

Sponsorships and partnerships are important pieces in any marketing strategy. In today’s digital world, that means an extension to sponsoring influencers as well as more traditional celebrities with a social media following.

But one can partner with more than just individuals with a following. Is there a reputable podcast or youtube channel in your niche? Are there businesses adjacent to your industry who may be open to a partnership for an online event, or project? Are there blogs in your market you could work with?

While you may face many rejections as you send cold emails to possible businesses and individuals for partnership, finding the right partner or sponsor can be very rewarding as it means reaching a larger number of potential customers that already have a relationship with your partner. These people will be more inclined to trust your business after being recommended by your new partner.

Conclusion

With a rapidly-changing digital landscape, more and more businesses are moving online to gain more customers. Many local businesses don’t have an online presence yet, or don’t fully utilize the footprint that they leave online.

Don’t be left in the past like those businesses. Take the first step and move forward. If you focus on building your online followers and market today, you’ll be better equipped to handle any change in the future.

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